Twenty national film companies presented over 110 movies, series and animated films to drive sales to potential customers at the stand.
The Russian film and TV industry dominated the show at the recently concluded Dubai International Content Market. The Russian Content Worldwide stand was organised by ROSKINO, the government organisation representing Russia’s audiovisual content industry, along with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. Twenty national film companies presented over 110 movies, series and animated films to drive sales to potential customers at the stand.
Russia-based film companies arranged more than 400 meetings with foreign content buyers. They highlighted the diversity of Russian movie genres, high-tech cinematography, gripping plots, and general emphasis on family values and traditions which are important themes for Middle Eastern audiences. The companies also presented many animated projects both in series and feature film format. The Russian companies revealed a strong demand for super high budget action films and series, thrillers, dramas, romance movies, animation, historical series and documentaries on Russian history, nature, and travel.
In the feature films segment, companies such as Art Pictures Distribution (APD) and CTB Film Company held several discussions with MENA-based distributors. Films by APD such as Red Silk, Vasily and Ice 3, and CBT’s The Wish of the Fairy Fish and The Enchanted Tinderbox generated much interest among buyers from the UAE, India, Oman, Turkey, Africa and South Korea. These regions expressed interest in purchasing different types of rights to such films – ranging from in-flight entertainment rights (for airlines) to TV and VOD licenses.
Several TV channels UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Morocco were interested in the comic-book-based blockbuster Major Grom: the Game, marketed by Plus Studio. Similar, attention was given to Central Partnership Sales House’s projects, The Wizard of the Emerald City Part 1, The Last Ronin, The Poet from buyers in the MENA region and Asia. , a psychological thriller shot by Vstrecha Studio, appealed to an exhaustive list of purchasers from China, Turkey, UAE, Egypt, Malaysia, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, South Korea, Chile, Morocco, and Jordan.
Romantic comedy, The Oligarch Driver, by Pimanov and Partners emerged as the main focus for foreign distributors, representatives of VOD platforms and TV channels from the UAE, India, Turkey, and Spain. Other popular films among buyers were Planeta Inform Film Distribution’s Anna’s Feelings and Centaur, Mars Media’s A Dog named Palma 2, Rock Films’ The Flying Ship
Russia Television and Radio, one of the largest Russian media holding, held discussions with several local channels. Dubai TV expressed its genuine willingness to keep broadcasting a lineup of Russian romance dramas dubbed into Arabic. MBC Group (UAE), Azam Media (Tanzania), Kana Television (Ethiopia), ZEE (India) and others are also expressed interest in acquiring licenses for Russian melodramas and historical series. The team at Russia Television and Radio noted that short melodramas, costume historical series,
film adaptations of Russian literature masterpieces and multi-genre documentaries were in demand at DICM.
DICM market proved to be successful for NTV Broadcasting Company too. A series called Five Minutes of Silence: Mountains and Sea, as well as historical dramas and action series, aroused the interest of many distributors, TV channels and online platforms from Arab states and Southeast Asian countries.
The demand for Russian documentary films in the DICM market remained large as well. Some of the popular series were Intriguing Secrets of Anna Karenina and The Unknown Kremlin. In the animated films genre, SMF Animation hosted a number of meetings in Dubai with firms from Iran, Iraq, Korea, Chile and renowned market participants from the MENA region such as Dubai TV, Oman TV, Rotana, Abu Dhabi Media and etc. Animated series as Rockoons, The Secrets of Honey Hills, Oomka & Me, as well as new feature-length releases, stirred up quite a bit of interest.
Other participating companies included Voronezh Animation Studio, Digital Television Russia, Parovoz Animation Studio, Terra Anima, Yarko Animation Company, Roy Entertainment, and KinoAtis.
